What I did on my summer holiday:
30th July 2022
So I haven't really been doing much on this website these past few months, so I figured I might as well talk about something relatively interesting that happened recently. So a couple days ago, I came back from a week and a half-long holiday in Bodrum, Turkey. Besides finally being the first trip away from Britain in a couple of years, it's also the first time I've stepped foot in Asia, though the country isn't really that dissimilar from countries in Mediterranean Europe that I'm more familiar with, like Spain (and only Spain since I haven't really been to another Mediterranean country since I was like 4). The city is a popular destination in the country for both international tourists, and especially for Turkey's citizens, travelling down from the big cities of Istanbul and Ankara for a nice summer retreat, as was the case for some members of my extended family, who hail from the country (they're in-laws, in case you're confused because of my last post), which was part of the reason why we chose to go there this year (the other being that the country had less travel restrictions compared to Spain this year).

So that's the background out of the way, now what about the city itself? Well, despite its influx of both national and international tourists, Bodrum definitely feels very much like a traditional Turkish/Mediterannean city, with everything all crammed into one neat easily-walkable package; minerets dotted around town reciting the five daily prayers, images of the country's treasured founder, Kemal Atat�rk, were emblazoned within businesses throughout the area, and much of the shops and restaurants have a very home-grown and traditional feel to them (complete with intrusive merchants who greet your British ass with a friendly 'Awroight mate!'). One of these local restaurants that I'd really like to recommend is one that's a bit off the beaten path, and was one our family only heard about through another recommendation by a fellow hotel guest: This would be the "Curly's Demeter" bar and restaurant, mainly because of its atmosphere. The guy running the place is a really outgoing dude, and the staff really feel like they're part of a family (they even have a pet dog hanging around!), with these guys really feeling like they want to be your friends, helped especially by the attention many of the customers are given since the business is also pretty quiet. For example, my brothers were looking to watch an F1 race, so the boss switched the TV over for us, and when we wanted to see the Gaelic Football final later on, not only did he switch it over again, but he even had access to foreign channels that were actually playing it too. In addition to the bar and restaurant, the place also had its own pool, available for free to anyone looking to hang around (though they aren't shy about offering drinks while you're there). The pool's pretty vast and generally quiet compared to what we had back at the hotel.

Speaking of which, the hotel we travelled to, Hotel Istank�y, was definitely a pretty interesting place to stay around. The experience was hit-or-miss, though there were definitely more hits than misses, though one example of the latter would definitely be the quality of the wi-fi, which isn't really the fastest thing in the world, and while this isn't really unexpected or much of a problem given the country's general online infrastructure, the main problem lies in how inconsistent it is, occasionally failing, reconnecting and then failing again when doing something as simple as loading a webpage. The hotel is also a bit too dense, with much of the seats' placement resulting in many cases where family mealtimes were within the "splash zone" of a pool filled with rowdy kids (though to be fair, there's a separate indoor restaurant area that my family seldom used outside of breakfast, so maybe that problem's on us). But those obviously aren't the only things worth talking about regarding the hotel. While the wi-fi's not much to write home about, the quality of the rooms themselves, as well as the room service, was top notch, perfectly organising the beds and restocking all the toiletries me and my brothers needed on a daily basis (they were sometimes even pretty generous with how much they gave us). There's also plenty of things going on around the hotel, which in addition to having the aforementioned pool, also has quite a few events taking place at night, like a performance by a street dance troupe on one night, as well as a skilled juggler on another, and even a pretty intense bingo night too! The hotel's also right slap-bang in the middle of Bodrum, so if the events or the food don't take your fancy, then you're just a stone's-throw away from nearby amenities. Its central location also results in the hotel offering living space to many stray cats in the area, who make good company throughout your stay. Just try and stop them from entering your room, 'cause if they get in then it can be tough to get them out without getting scratched.

So, what about those things you can do in Bodrum? Well, one thing you can do is indulge in local history by visiting the local castle, built over 500 years ago by the Knights of Saint John, back when they were primarily located on the Greek island of Rhodes (which is also only a 2-hour boat ride from Bodrum if you're interested), partially using remains from the destroyed Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. There's also the ancient theatre, though I never really got around to checking it out. If historical landmarks are a bit slow for you, then there's also plenty of watersport activities to get yourself involved in, like scuba diving for example, which I ended up doing for the first time. It was bloody terrifying, and it felt really weird trying to breathe whilst stopping myself from getting salt water in my mouth, but at least it's something to tick off the bucket list! There's also a few things to do on dry land if stuff like scuba diving is a bit too intense. For example, there's this really nice waterpark, Aquapark Bodrum, not too far from the centre of the city, and it's got tons of exhilirating waterslides to experience. I might even put it above the water park that I frequented in Spain, since there's a larger choice of slides, far smaller queues because the place wasn't too busy, and it was also far cheaper too. In fact, everything seems cheaper in Bodrum compared to what I'm used to. Impressive steaks that usually cost around �20 often go for around the equivalent of �12. There was even this nice gaming caf�, named "Safe Zone", which offered hundreds of games at the cost of just 10 Lira per hour; that's about 50p for a whole hour! Meanwhile, many British offerings cost around ten-times that amount. Though something that might be a bit more costly, but still a fairly decent experience would be that of a quadbiking trail a fair bit out of town. While it's not as intense as a racetrack, and they seem to have a policy of "bring your own bandanas" as they're not included in the price, it's still worth experiencing the rocky terrain of the Turkish countryside, as you get pummeled by large swarms of dust and fumes from your fellow riders, even if it's not exactly a Sega Rally Championship.

Overall, I had a pretty pleasant experience on my visit to the south coast of Anatolia. Whilst I guess I'd prefer Spain because it's closer and I'm more familiar with it (and also because it doesn't cost a small fortune to use your mobile data!), I would definitely be up for a return to the old city in the future. If I were to rank my experiences in Turkey based on the world map featured on my "About" page, I might label it as "Like", though if go again and grow more accustomed to the environment, then it could very easily be ranked in the "Love" category. As for where I might travel in the future, I'll hopefully be travelling to Berlin around Easter of next year, after years of it being pushed back due to the thing that you've probably heard of, and I might travel to my home-from-home of Minnesota for a wedding next summer (CDC-willing). The world's re-opening slowly but surely, and unless another pandemic is thrown at us, or martial law is declared, or the world ends or whatever, then it will continue to do so. And I can't bloody wait!

Oh, and here's a couple decent holiday pics I managed to take during my time away from this island: